Bottle capsuling machine



Dec. 8, 1931. A. 1. RISSER 1,835,336

BOTTLE CAPSULING MACHINE Fi Ma 6, 1929 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 I X l l i Dec. 8, 1931. A. RISSER BOTTLE CAPSULING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Dec. 8, 1931.

A. I. RISSER BOTTLE CAPSULING MACHINE Filed May 6, 192

4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Dec. 8, 1931. A. RISSER BOTTLE GAPSULING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed May 6, 1929 Patented Dec. 8, 1931 UNITED STATES PA TENT OFFICE ARTHU B, I, RISSER, -OF-CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO 'U'. S. BOTTLERS MACHINERY COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS BOTTLE CAPSULING MACHINE Application filed May 6, 1929. Serial No. 360,745.

This invention relates to improvements in bottle capsuling machines, or machines more especially for placing on the non-metallic caps or capsules, such as the gelatinous caps used for covering bottles containing dru s to protect the contents from deterioration. uch capsules are rendered soft and pliable by soaking, and are then stretched on over the neck of the bottle. In drying, the capsules contract and harden, and provide an impervious, air-tight seal. The capsules become Very delicate and tender when softened, and

it has been necessary heretofore to place them on by hand, or with the aid of hand devices for stretching and guiding the capsules into lace.

p An object of my invention is to provide a machine for handling the softened gelatinous capsules, or for handling caps of any soft, flexible or resilient material such as rubber, or even thin metal caps or covers having a relative resiliency in proportion to their diameters. Another object is to provide such a machine which is substantially entirely automatic, so that the capping operation can be performed at a high rate of output. Another object is to provide means for receiving the caps and placing them in the capping mechanism of the machine.

Other objects are to provide a capping mechanism which is simple in construction and effective in operation; and to provide such a mechanism which can be advanced over the neck of the bottle'to install the capsule and then be withdrawn back over the capsule so that it is not necessary to pass the bottle completely through the capping device, as has been required heretofore.

For explanatory purposes, an embodiment of my invention is shown in the bottle capsuling machine illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which,

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the capsuling machine, with parts broken away and parts shown in section.

- Fig. 2 is a rear elevation taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 8 is a plan section on the line 3-3 of Fig.

Fig. 4 is a fragmental front elevation, look ing from the left in Fig. 1, and showing a changed position of the moving parts.

Fig.5 is a cross section of the cap placing mechanism of the machine.

Fig. 6 is a detail section of the capsule receiving mechanism of the machine, taken at substantially the position of the line 66 of Fl .3.

Fig. 7 is a detail section of the receiving mechanism with a capsule in place thereon, and is taken on the line 7 7 of Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a plan view of the carrier shown in Fig. 6 and Fig. 7.

Fig. 9 is a section similar to Fig. 7 showing a modification thereof.

Fig. 10 is a detail view showing one step in the capping or capsule installing operation.

Fig. 11 shows a final step in sa1d operation.

The machine has a frame comprising the supporting legs 1 and 2 at the front and 3 and 4 at the rear, and the vertical support member 5, secured between the rear legs 3 and 4 by the rivets 6. To the front legs is bolted a cross member 7, and bolted to and extending laterally from the front and rear legs at either side are the pairs of conveyor rails 9 and 10 which are connected by suitable cross members 11. Running over pulleys 12 and 13, rotatably mounted in the conveyor rails, is the conveyor belt 14, the up-.

per horizontal portion of which is supported at intervals by the rollers 15, also mounted in the pairs of rails 9 and 10.

Bolted to the frame member 5 and extending forwardly undereneath the belt 14 is the cast bracket 16 in which is mounted the vertical shaft 17, directly in front of the belt, and the vertical sprocket shaft 18. In suit- .able bearings 19 bolted to said supporting members and undereneath the bracket 16 is journaled the main drive shaft 20, which is driven from a source of power not shown; and the drive shaft is connected to said vertical shafts by the bevel gear 21, pinned to the drive shaft and meshing with the bevel gear 22 keyed to the lower end of the shaft 17, and the bevel gear 23, keyed to the front end of the drive shaft and meshing with the bevel gear 24 which is keyed on the lower end of the shaft 18. The conveyor belt 14 is the pulley 25, fixedly mounted on the shaft 20,'by the guide pulleys 26 and 27, which are rotatably mounted at either side of the pulin suitable bearings 28 which are bolted to the supporting legs, as best shown in Fixed on the shaft 17 and projecting over the belt 14 is a wheel 30 havin peripheral ockets 31 for receiving the bottles 32 as the tles are carried along on the belt, the shaft and wheel being supported by a thrust bearing 33 which rests on the frame member of bracket 16. Behind the wheel 30 isrovided an edgewise mounted belt 34 for guic ing and holding the bottles in the pockets 31. The belt 34 runs over the ulleys 35 and 36 and is tensioned by the tip tener pulley 37. The pulle 36 is rotatab y mounted on a stationa s aft 38 fixed on the plate 39 which is bbl ted to the frame members 11, and the pulley 35 is mounted on the end of a lever which is pivoted on a stud 41, fixed in the plate 39. The lever 40 is :urged to swing forwardly over the conveyor belt 14, by the coiled spring 42, against the stop provided by the in 43, in the plate 39. From the preceding, it-will be seen that bottles, as they are carried on the belt from the left, in Fig. 3, strike against the wheel 30 and wedge lightly between the wheel and the pulley 35 until one of the ockets 30 comes into registration with the ottle. The bottle is then forced into the pocket and is carried around by the wheel under the yielding tension of the belt, and a in left free on the conveyor belt at the right side as the pocket moves away from the holding belt 34.

At the upper end of the support member 5 is bolted a bracket which has a bearing hub 46. Fixedly mounted in the hub 46, in axial alignment with the shaft 17, is a hollow shaft 47 which receives, rotatably therein, the reduced end 48 of the shaft 17, and in the u per end of the stationary shaft 47 is threaded the adjusting screw 49 which is rotated for adjustment as desired by the hand wheel 50, secured to the upper end of the screw 49. Keyed to and slidably mounted on the shaft 47 is a cam drum 51 which is supported from the screw 49 by the rods 52, which are secuned in the ends of the spider 53 which is rotatably mounted on the screw.

Near the upper end of the shaft 17 is pinned a collar 55 which serves to support the cap ping head spider 56, the spider being keyed to the shaft 17 and rotatable within the rim of the cam drum 51; and in vertical guideways 57, formed in the spider 56, are slidably mounted the bars 58, on each of which is rotatably mounted a cam roller 59. These cam rollers travel in a peripheral cam groove which is formed in the rim of the cam drum and which has two depressions, the depression 61 near the front of the machine, and the depression 62 at the rear of the machine. The slides are arranged in corresponding relation with the pockets 31 in the wheel 30, and carry at their lower ends the collets 63, in which are removably secured, by means of the set screws 64, the stems 65 of the capping heads 66, the arrangement being such that each of the capping heads 66 is in axial alignment with the bottle which is in position in the corresponding pocket 31.

The capping head mechanism, four of which are shown in the drawings, are of duplicate construction, and a description of one of the heads will apply to all. In the peri hcry of the head 63 are provided angular s ots 67, in which are mounted the depending arms 68 in circular arrangement. The arms 68 are pivoted at their. upper ends in pins 69, fixed in the head 66, and are provided with counterbalances 70 so that their lower ends are swung lightly together by the force of gravity. The lower ends of the arms 68 have an angular cam surface 71 for separating the arms as they are lowered onto the neck of the bottle,

and the cam surfaced ends terminate, on the inner side, in upwardly projecting arcuate fingers or hooks 72. In the center of the head 66 is slidably mounted a depending rod 73 having an enlarged upper end 74 for limiting the lower position of the rod. To the lower end of the rod is fixed a recessed disk 75, the purpose of which, for forming a yielding abutment for the upper end of the capsule 76, is well illustrated in Fig. 5 and Fig. 10.

Since it is necessary to provide means for placing the softened capsules in the capping head mechanism, I provideithe receivers 80, one for each capping head, which travel continuously, synchronously and in axial alignment with their corresponding cappin head during a portionof such travel. On the hub portion 81 of the bracket 16, in which the shaft 18 is journaled, is adjustably pivoted an arm 82, and in the inner end of the arm is journaled a stub shaft 83, parallel with theshaft 18. On the shafts 83 and 18 are mounted, respectively, the sprockets 84 and 85, which carry, in a horizontal plane, the chain belt 86; and the inner reach of the chain is supported in an arcuate channel guide 87 bolted to the medial portion of the arm 82. At equal intervals in the chain 86 are provided upstanding hubs 88 in which are secured, by the set screws 89, the vertical central rods 90 of the receivers, which are surrounded by the fingers 91. The rods 91 are pivoted at their lower ends in a spider 92 which is fixedly mounted on the center rod 90, and the rods 91 are enclosed by a continuous coil spring 92 which holds the upper ends of the rods 91 against the center rod 90 in an open, conical formation. The position of the arm 82 is adjusted so that the receivers in traveling along in the arcuate guide 87 move along with their corresponding capping heads, inabout the relation shown between Fig. 5 and Fig. 6.

The operator of the machine places the capsules on the receivers as the receivers are moving along on the outer portion of the chain. Then when a receiver is traveling in synchronism with itscapping head, the cam roller moves down into the depressed portion 62 of the cam groove, and the capping head is lowcred until the arms 68 engage and pass over the capsule and drop into the spaces between the rods 91, as indicated in broken lines in Fig. 6, with the disk 75 resting on the top of the capsule. Then, as the head is raised, the fingers 72 enter the cylindrical skirt portion of the capsule and strip the capsule off from the receiver. The lower ends of the arms 68 swing together as they clear the end of the center rod 90, and the capsule is held against the shoulders at the roots of the fingers 72 by the Weight of the disks 75, the capsule being centered in the recess of the disk so that it cannot get out of place.

As the head moves around toward the rear of the machine and travels in coordinate relation with the bottle held in the pocket of the wheel 31, the head is again lowered. The

ends of the arms cont-act with the top of the bottle, camming the ends apart and stretching the capsule down over the neck of the bottle, as shown in Fig. 10. The head continues to move downwardly until the. fingers 71 are pulled out from under the skirt of the capsule, allowing the capsule to contract onto the bottle neck, as shown in Fig. 11, and the head is then raised or retracted. The upper ends of the fingers being curved outwardly, the fingers slide over the surface of the capsule without any danger of damaging or disarranging the same, and the head is raised to the starting height.

From the foregoing, it can now be seen that I have provided a very simple mechanism which can also be operated at a comparatively high rate of speed. Very delicate caps can be handled as long as they have sufficient resiliency to stretch as the fingers pass over the flange or ring on the end of the bottle. The capsules are accurately positioned on the botties. and the variations in the sizes and shapes of the bottles which are apt to be encountered in such articles, even when made in the same molds or by the same processes, can have no effect on the operation of my machine. Also there is no danger of breaking the bottles,

and to adjust the cam drum to the proper height. Then for adjusting the receiver to accommodate different sizes of caps, I provide a suitable sleeve 94 which may be placed over the central rod 90 to properly space the upper ends of the rods 91 to accommodate the cap.

While I have shown and described an illustrative embodiment of my invention, it is obvious that many omissions and alterations may be had without departing from the spirit of the invention, as defined in the following claims.

I claim 1. In a ottle cappin machine,a ca in head mounted on a rotaIable carrier, a nd less chain having a portion movable in parallel relation with the head, a cap receiver mounted on the chain, and means for moving the carrier and the chain so that the head and the receiver are brought into co-operative relation during their parallel movements.

2. In a bottle capping machine, a capping head, having inwardly and upwardly 7 projecting hooks, an upstanding cap receiver, and means for moving said members into cooperative relation so that a cap placed on the receiver is pushed up into and engaged internally by the hooks. a

3. In a bottle capping machine, a cap receiver comprising a group of rods or barsin circular conical arrangement, a head having hooked fingers, and means for bringing the head and receiver into co-operative relation v so that the fingers engage in the skirt of a cap placed on the receiver in the spaces between the rods.

4. In a bottle capping machine, a cap receiver comprising a plurality of rods in circular conical arrangement with the upper ends resiliently held in contact, and a tube for insertion between said ends to adjust the receiver to suit the caps.

5. In a'bottle capping machine, a cap receiver comprising a central rod, a plurality of rods pivotallymounted convergently about the central rod, a spring encircling the plurality of rods to hold their ends against the central rod, and a tube inserted over the central rod to adjust the receiver to accommodate the bottle cap.

6. In a bottle capsuling machine, a plurality oflarms having fingers for engaging the caps internally, means for moving'the arms intocontact with a bottle so that the fingers stretch the cap down over the end of the bottle and then are drawn out .from under the cap, and for then reversing the movement of the arms to move them out of relation with the bottle leaving the cap in position.

' 7. In a bottle capsuling machine, a plurality of arms having fingers for engaging the caps internally, and means for moving the arms into relation with a bottle so that the fingers ride over the end of the bottle and stretch the cap into position thereon, the movement of the arms being continued to withdraw the fingers from under the cap and then reversed to move away from the bottle. 8. In a bottle capping machine, a plurality of arms having inwardly projecting hooks arms for retaining the cap in engagement with the hooks. I

10. In a bottle capping machine, a plurality of depending arms having inwardly and upwardly; projecting fingers for engaging the bottle cap lnternally, an abutment member loosely suspended above the fingers, and projecting means for inserting the cap between the fingers and against the abutment so that the fingers engage in and retain the cap when said means is withdrawn.

11. In a bottle capping machine, a plurality of hanging arms having hooks on their lower ends, an abutment member loosely suspended over the hooks, and upwardly projecting members for receiving the cap and for inserting the cap in between the hooks and against the abutment so that when the receiving means is withdrawn the cap is engaged by the hooks.

12. In a bottle capping machine, a plurality of arms suspended vfrom pivots, the arms having upwardly projecting fingers for engaging the bottle cap internally and having cam ends so that when the arms are lowered into relation with the bottle the arms 5 cammed out to stretch the cap down over the porting a bottle, and means for moving the head toward the bottle so that the arms engage with and stretch the cap down over the end of the bottle.

15. In a bottle capping machine, a;vertical .slide, a capping head mounted on thelower end of the slide, a plurality of arms pivoted to the head and loosely depending therefrom, the arms having angular ends having upwardl projecting hooks on the inner sides.

16. n a bottle capping machine, a vertical slide, a capping head mounted on the lower end of the slide, a plurality of arms pivoted to the head and loosely de ending therefrom, the arms having inwar ly sloping end surfaces terminating in upwardly project- .ing hooks.

of April, 1929.

ARTHUR I. RISSER. 

